Scheer said he felt McLeod, 53, had no chance of getting to the 16-year-old Hannah Montana star because she "can afford the best protection money can buy", but he feared McLeod might be a threat to others.

Cyrus recently finished filming The Last Song on Tybee Island and in neighbouring Savannah. Police say McLeod came to the island twice in June and again this month asking where he could find her.

James Byrne, McLeod's defence attorney, said McLeod is an unemployed assistant plumber and will likely remain in jail because he cannot afford bond. All charges against him are misdemeanours.

"He's been kind of painted as this monster, but he's got a family," Byrne said. "He's not a danger. What he said I understand was unsettling to a lot of folks... but it doesn't make him a stalker."

Police say McLeod told an officer he was engaged to marry Cyrus and she sent him secret messages through her TV show after his first arrest June 22 on charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of a police officer.